I chose the blog name ‘One Man’s Land.' Let me tell you why.Oranit is an Israeli village or settlement in the no man's land. Oranit lays between Israel and the proposed Palestine. I was among the first ten settlers. From scratch, we built a town. With pride, I led the building of all the things we now take for granted. I built schools, kindergartens, synagogues, country club, and the religious Mikvah. We toiled to establish electricity, telephones and water supplies. I spent days correcting the open sewage flowing through the streets of Oranit. I set up the municipality and left. I know the settlements for what they are. A great miracle marred by humanity’s many foibles. I love the trees I planted, and the birds above.Oranit is borderline everything. We live in a quiet a distinct area overlooking a magic wood. Oranit was in no man's land, and she remains so. Our village is not part of Israel proper. Our village, the beautiful Oranit is not part of the ‘Wild West’ settlement movement.We represent the clear majority of Israeli settlers. We came because the land was cheaper and central. We could build houses, and enjoy a high quality of living at a price within our reach. The land was cheap. That does not mean to say we stole it. The land acquisition is legal. There was a meticulous , controlled procurement process. No one did anything without lots of bureaucracy. The authorities leant over backwards to help the Arabs make their claims. We knew, often, the claims were spurious. The Arab land registry is non-existent. Registration goes back to word-of-mouth and maps from the Ottoman area era. So, there was a lot of fiddling and scurrilous behaviour. The Arabs perpetrated most of the deviousness and cheating. The Jews were far from innocent Wherever there was doubt; refusal was at hand. We did not get the land by subterfuge ; nor were our actions dishonourable. I do not understand why I must defend my choice to live in my version of paradise.Oranit is a story of pride and desire. A chronicle of a longing to build something beautiful. Till this day, I love Oranit and is always well. In many respects, Oranit and who she is represents who I am. I am undefined and hard to explain.
I too am a one man’s land in no man’s land.
My whole attitude to life is spiritual. I do not believe that the religious have anything to do with religion. There is a maker, he has a lot to answer. We believe because there is something in which to believe. Nothing in this fantastic biological machine is there without reason. There is a reason we are able to believe.Belief is the highest form of cognitive skills. Belief is not a mistake.Something out there is controlling an awful lot. The same goes for mathematics and physics. There are far too many similarities. The 'big bang' is the basis of Quantum theory and space-time theory. The original miracle replaces the ‘original miracle.’The clerics hijack the miracle and blather. I occupy a no man’s land of faith. I object to both my bullying neighbours.The zealous clerics and the crusading atheists share their impudence.They infringe, with self-rewarded impunity on my territory.
My life's work involves Schizophrenics. Schizophrenia, is not an illness insomuch as it is a revolution. A revolutionary first step to do something that we can't do. We cannot think in any other form apart from binary. People with schizophrenia can; they are unsuccessful, but evolution is going that way. I'm sure of it; they will make the quantum jump. Schizophrenics are in a conceptual and evolutionary no-man's land.
As a doctor, I know our body’s functioning is incredible. It's a miraculous design. Far beyond anything we can do. I am a doctor. I exist in a borderland situation. We should be promoting health, not treating illnesses. We should make sure that the young and the ill receive treatment before the rich and the old. The priority is to prevent, not to cure. I am at odds with a lot of my medical colleagues. I fight the drug companies. I see them as the equal of the religious clerics. Both are self-centered, hypocritical, hi-jacking liars. They are in it for their ends.I am in another borderland.
In politics, I'm very much on the border. In my own no man's land. I support the Palestinians in their desire to rule themselves. I despair at them ever reaching that point. I confer, we must share the land. We must not divide it. I am certain one day we will live in peace. Both peoples’ voice will ring out. They will say they want to live together. They want to live in pride and have an identity. Israelis and Palestinians both need this. Unfortunately, security comes first. One day we will overcome the politicians who thrive on the conflict. On that day, we will throw out all those with vested interests who sow and feed on despair. Today the solvers are the problem.Tomorrow we will remove them.Till then, we cannot be naïve.
Is it naïve to in a no man's land? Naïveté is not a concept; nor is it a dream. It was not naïve to think you can go to the moon. It was not naïve to believe that you can touch a screen and make programs work. Dreams became visions and visions are the forbearers of plans. Naïveté only exists in the execution. Naïveté only can express itself in naïve implementation. In my one-man’s borderland, I hear Ted Kennedy’s quote at his brother Bobby’s funeral. ‘There are those who see things as they are and ask why. He dreamed dreams of things yet to be and wondered why not?’
Oranit, the village on the border, is our dream. I helped to build her.I belong to a religion where I am a believer and fight the establishment. The clerics are frauds.In my profession, I am on the border on central issues. Again, I fight. I am an anti-Psychiatric psychiatrist. I have pronounced views on Palestine; the left claim I am a right winger and the right the opposite. They are both correct; they are both wrong
Oranit is in the sparse no man's land. Oranit is one man's land-- my land. That's who I am, and that's what I'm doing. I write about Oranit. Oranit is me, and I am her; she symbolises my love, my thoughts and my beliefs. I am positive I am not alone, in my one-man’s land. I am lucky enough to see Oranit is more than a place.Oranit is a concept.We are all in one-man’s land.
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